14 Great Britain Quirky


UK MAINLAND ORDERS RECEIVED BY DECEMBER 12TH 2012 WILL BE DESPATCHED IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS. BRITAIN


71269 LONDON’S SECRET TUBES by Andrew


Emmerson and Tony Beard There are numerous conspiracy theories regarding London’s vast network of underground passageways, but the reality is possibly even more fascinating. This book covers the period from 1915 to 1980, using only material


in the public domain. During World War I there was extensive tunnelling for the Post Office tube link which was designed to transfer mail safely and speedily. Completed in 1917, the immediate use for these tunnels was to store works of art from the British Museum, Wallace Collection and Royal galleries, a function they again assumed in World War II. The Elgin marbles were stored at Aldwych, though other exhibits had to be moved because the partitions between the art treasures and the public air raid shelters impeded the flow of air. The Cabinet and Chiefs of staff were assigned to a citadel in Dollis Hill, where unassuming buildings concealed the bunker below, but it was soon decided that the centres of government would be evacuated to the west country in the event of the capital’s complete devastation. Industry, too, required protection, and the manufacturing of electrical and mechanical components by Plessey was carried out by 2,000 workers deep in the tube tunnels below Ilford. Meanwhile, the Bankside Grid Control centre suffered several near misses before finding an eight- storey home in disused Post Office lift shafts at St Paul’s. Every chapter is full of fascinating facts illustrated by numerous archive photos. 192pp.


£25 NOW £15 71123 CHILDREN OF LIGHT: How Electricity


Changed Britain Forever by Gavin Weightman Electricity is up there with the wheel as a world- changing discovery and it is easy to forget that we have not had it for very long. Faraday demonstrated a prototype generator in 1831 and in 1878 the first floodlit football match was staged. The author describes the development of electric power chronologically, but what makes this book particularly fascinating is his interest in the moral, political and social issues raised by the new science. The French were leaders in electric lighting but the “new illuminant” was in competition with gas lighting and suppliers battled it out for decades. In the U.K, Godalming was the first town to turn off its gas lamps and inaugurate electric street lighting in 1881. While Leeds placed itself at the mercy of private electricity companies in a series of farcical mishaps, Bradford decided to run its own company as an offshoot of the existing gas board. When the National Grid was established, local protests about pylons and health issues were swept aside, but following World War II there was trouble over whether it was morally good for women to have the labour saving devices provided by Hotpoint and Hoover. The big question in the


70813 LONDON BY PUB by Ted Bruning Subtitled Pub Walks Around Historic London, each pub selected has a historical theme from the tradition of journalism along Fleet Street to the Victorian masters and servants of the great houses of Belgravia. Try the Betsy Trotwood, the Jerusalem Tavern, Jamaica Wine House, Olde Cheshire Cheese in Wine Office Court, the Sir Richard Steel, the Plume of Feathers or the Blood and Muck at Smithfields. The 15 chapters cover Belgravia, Kensington, Bayswater, Fleet Street, the City, Smithfield, Clerkenwell, Chelsea, Greenwich, Hampstead, Soho, Oxford Street, St. Giles, Covent Garden and Southwark. Packed with history, directions, maps, opening times, real ales and if bar food is served or if there is a restaurant. B/w photos, 288pp in paperback.


£12.99 NOW £4


70959 PANORAMAS OF LOST LONDON Work, Wealth, Poverty and Change


1870-1945 by Philip Davies Published in association with English Heritage and with a foreword by Dan Cruikshank, here are over 300


spectacular photographs of London’s lost buildings from English Heritage’s archive. It is the sequel to the bestselling ‘Lost London’ and takes a more closer and detailed view of the city’s lost heritage, its social and economic history, work, wealth, poverty and change during the years 1870-1945. Some of the book’s finest photographs have been enlarged to poster size revealing the true quality. There are 100 previously unseen images in this new, larger landscape format tome measuring 14½” across by nearly 12". It reproduces historic photographs commissioned by the London County Council, many of them in the early days of photography, to capture individual buildings and streets that along with entire neighbourhoods were on the threshold of redevelopment. Haunting faces can be seen very clearly in windows and hoardings and shop fronts plastered with advertising reveal their wares and architectural features and textures leap into focus. Take the tram to Aldwych 1932, see Sir Christopher Wren’s Court Room with its fine vaulted ceiling and fluted Corinthian screen. The ultimate coffee table book, this cannot come highly recommended enough. New publication, first time discounted. £40 NOW £28


69356 AA MINI GUIDE THE COTSWOLDS by Christopher Knowles


Covering the Forest of Dean and the Severn Vale, here are hot spots like Odda’s Chapel, Tewkesbury, Bourton- on-the-Water, Slimbridge and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, and beautiful monasteries, chapels, churches and cathedrals. With tea rooms listed and an A-Z of places to visit. 256pp, softback, colour photos. £4.99 NOW £1.50


second half of the 20th century was where electric power was coming from, and the author’s summary of Thatcher’s confrontation with the miners and the outlook for power supplies in the 21st century makes a readable, informative and challenging end to an illuminating book. 282pp, photos. £25 NOW £6


71118 BRIGHT PARTICULAR STARS: A Gallery of Glorious British Eccentrics by David McKie


The history of England’s towns has frequently been enlivened by individuals who were wealthy, eccentric, desperate to do good or just plain mad. Among the latter was Philip Heseltine, better known as the composer Peter Warlock, who


scandalised the village of Eynsford in Kent by his non- stop house parties, riding naked on his motorbike through the village and emerging from the Five Bells one Sunday morning to tell the passing Sunday school that he would be their god. At the other end of the scale, sheer ordinariness was the quality that led the Nottinghamshire village of Trowell to be selected in 1951 as Britain’s “Festival Village”, and the Festival supremo Herbert Morrison (grandfather of Peter Mandelson) was given a hard time explaining the choice to Parliament. In the early 20th century the equally obscure Cradley Heath was the home of the magnificent Mary Macarthur who fought for decent pay and better conditions for women workers. In 1864, Nine Elms saw an ecstatic welcome for the glamorous Garibaldi, alarming Queen Victoria so much that her Chancellor Gladstone persuaded the Italian Nationalist to go back to Italy. A fascinating chapter on Spitalfields in London traces the history of the area as a settlement first for Huguenots fleeing from religious persecution, then for Russian Jews persecuted by the Tsars, and in the 20th century by Muslims from Bangladesh. 353pp. £25 NOW £6.50


71137 MCKIE’S GAZETTEER:


A Local History of Britain by David McKie The ultimate serendipitous experience, this book tells quirky stories from 150 places in Britain, many of them with such extraordinary names that there is hardly any need to read on: Unthank, Temperance Town, Irk, Blennerhasset, Devil’s Quoits and


Snig’s End. The stories are equally fascinating. Bishop’s Castle is a sleepy town on the Welsh border which someone had the bright idea of galvanising into life with a railway. The first train ran in October 1865, but the contractor promptly went bankrupt and the line stayed in the hands of receivers over its 70-year history. Unable to afford a clock, the staff estimated departure times by listening out for the town hall chimes. Inspector after inspector found the line dangerous, and when asked why there were no timetables the station mistress said the goat must have eaten them. Moving east, Compton Verney is now a fine Warwickshire art gallery, but society was scandalised in 1921 when it was sold by the super-aristocratic Verney family to the purveyor of Nubolic soap. Grimsthorpe Castle, one of Vanbrugh’s Baroque masterpieces, is associated with Thomas Linley, a friend of Mozart who was considered to have an equally glittering future ahead of him until he drowned there at the age of 21. All useless and highly satisfying knowledge. 668pp, paperback, line drawings. £16.99 NOW £7


68033 CENTRE OF THE CREATIVE UNIVERSE: Liverpool and the Avant-Garde edited by Christoph Grunenberg and Robert Knifton Lavishly illustrated, the book traces the representation of Liverpool in art, photography, film, music, literature and poetry and presents an insightful and revealing account of bohemian life there since 1945. This unlikely venue emerges as an unexpected centre of avant-garde activity attracting internationally-renowned artists as diverse as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Yoko Ono, Candida Hoefer, Rineka Dijkstra and Tom Wood. 256 softback pages, colour and b/w photos. £25 NOW £4.50


69173 BRITAIN’S COASTLINE by Jerome Monahan


The glorious Jurassic sweep of south-west England has a strong maritime history. Wide open skies, reed-fringed marshes and magnificent beaches characterise the coastline of East Anglia. The Yorkshire coast has a craggy grandeur, while that of the north-east includes the stunning estuaries of the Tyne, Wear and Tees. More than two-thirds of the British coastline is located in Scotland and its offshore islands, blessed with amazing natural features. In Northern Ireland the Antrim Coast Road regularly features in lists of the best-loved scenery in the British Isles and the beauties of Wales, too, are not forgotten. 128 very large pages in superb colour. £20 NOW £6


69174 COTSWOLD VILLAGES by John Mannion and Stephen Dorey An experienced professional photographer takes you on an insider’s tour of this fascinating region, capturing the pubs full of character, the historic churches, the beautiful gardens and elegant manor houses. Among the classic villages to discover are Bibury, described by William Morris as being the most beautiful village in England, Slad, the childhood home of the author Laurie Lee, Bourton-on-the-Water with its wonderful bridges spanning the river Windrush, and the Slaughters, which hug the banks of the tiny River Eye. 96 large pages, colour plates and map. £12.99 NOW £4


69274 WALES: In the Golden Age of


Picture Postcards by David Gwynn The Prince of Wales’s Feathers, the Dragon of Cadwaladr, the leek, national costume, a miner, ladies in very tall black hats wearing capes and taking tea are among the instantly recognisable images that begin this super volume. Here are also dozens of humorous Welsh postcards where English speakers made fun of the tongue-twisting nature of Welsh place names like Penllithrigywrach. There are some truly beautiful picture postcards of spectacular scenery, beautiful beaches and resorts and great castles to visit in Wales. 96 page large paperback packed with sepia and hand tinted old postcards.


! £12.99 NOW £4.50


70260 THE NORTH WEST AND THE LAKES edited by Grahame Blight


The entries capture the wood’s atmosphere, describing historical features, seasonal interests, its setting and wildlife to look out for. Helsby Hill overlooking the Mersey, Delamere Forest, a remnant of the ancient forest of Mara and Mondrum offering wonderful walks to delight the visitor near Chester, Heaton Park at Prestwich, one of the largest parks in Europe, Gisburn Forest in Clitheroe and Big Wood on the edge of the historic Norton Priory site with its chequered history at Runcorn are among the dozens of entries. 121pp in softback with colour photos. £7.99 NOW £3


69180 DISCOVER TIMES PAST LANCASHIRE by Myriad Books


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Using quality sepia photographs from the archives of the Hulton Picture Library and the famous Picture Post Magazine, here is a panorama of people and places in England’s Red Rose county. John O’Gaunt’s Gateway, Lancaster Castle, the hills and moors of North Lancashire, football, transport, Manchester manufacturing, pigeon fancying, pudding making, a packed Cavern Club in 1963, Liverpool at war. Dozens of images in 32 pages. Large softback.


£6.99 NOW £2.50


69184 LANDMARKS OF BRITAIN by Lisa Pritchard


Less than two hours south of London, the iconic white cliffs drop away to the English Channel. To the south- west, the Devon and Cornwall peninsula offers the wide-open spaces of Exmoor, Dartmoor and Bodmin Moor that contrast with ever-narrower lanes and a superb coastline. Head west from the capital and you can enjoy the gentle rolling Cotswold Hills before reaching Wales and discovering the beauty of the Gower Peninsula and Snowdonia. To the east lie the flatlands of Cambridgeshire and the Norfolk Broads. Cross the border into Scotland and the landscape unfolds with a seemingly infinite variety of wooded hills, heather- covered moors and lochs. Meanwhile, the 21st century is firmly embraced in major centres such as Manchester, London, Birmingham, Cardiff and Glasgow. 128 very large pages, colour photos. £20 NOW £6


69185 BEAUTIFUL PEAK DISTRICT by Simon Kirwan


The Peak District is an upland area of wonderful contrasts, from the bleak beauty of the windswept north to the dreamy pastoral scenery of the Dove valley in the south, where the peaceful waters of the river inspired Sir Izaak Walton to write his great work on fly- fishing. In 1932 a ‘mass trespass’ was organised when 400 ramblers set off from Hayfield to climb Kinder Scout. 20 years later, the Peak District National Park was created, covering an area of 550 square miles. From the dramatic edges and escarpments of Hen Cloud and the Roaches overlooking the Cheshire Plain to the pretty villages and market towns that characterise the region, these photos will enthrall. 128 very large pages in glorious colour with map. £20 NOW £5


69266 LEAMINGTON AND WARWICK DISAPPEARING INDUSTRIES From Old


Photographs by Jacqueline Cameron Companies like Lockheed, Borg & Beck, Ford Motor Company, Donald Healey, famous for his sports cars, Sidney Flavel and Thomas Potterton were established in Leamington and flourished. There were engineering companies and laundries, coal merchants and Mabel Buswell and her horse drawn cart selling vegetables, ably assisted by her father. Our book is a nostalgic return to this golden age of industry at the very heart of urban identity and community spirit. In 96 page paperback, dozens of old mono photos. £12.99 NOW £5.50


69272 VILLAGES OF THE PEAK DISTRICT by Denis Eardley


The Peak District is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the heart of England. Picturesque villages, beautiful churches, cosy pubs, pretty village greens, ancient buildings and colourful events dating back centuries add to its appeal. The places of special interest are neatly divided into regions to enable a whole host of superb days out to be planned. These range from magnificent country houses through museums and nostalgic steam railways to subterranean caverns and adventure parks. 253 paperback pages, attractive colour plates, and map. £16.99 NOW £3.50


69755 THE COTSWOLDS: A Cultural History by Jane Bingham


This joyous celebration of one of the most beautiful and the most historically significant areas in the British Isles will make you long to follow in the footsteps of numerous famous figures, writers, artists and musicians. Alexander Pope loved the area around Cirencester Park, Laurie Lee wrote vividly about the Slad Valley, T. S. Eliot made Burnt Norton immortal and A. E. Housman embraced the dialect of Bredon Hill. 244 paperback pages illus in b/w with maps, index of literary, artistic and historical names and index of places and landmarks. $16.95 NOW £4


70259 CHILTERNS TO THE WELSH BORDERS edited by Lorraine Weeks and Grahame Blight One of a series of guides from the Woodland Trust. The guides open with an illustrated introduction to the area by Archie Miles, followed by a series of maps showing the location of each wood. The entries capture the wood’s atmosphere, describing historical features, seasonal interests, its setting and wildlife to look out for. Includes The Forest of Dean, Fine Shane Wood at Corby, Wendover Woodland Park, Burnham Beeches, Blaise Castle, Moritmer Forest at Ludlow, Wyre Forest at Kidderminster and dozens more. Colour photos, 134pp in paperback.


£7.99 NOW £2.75


69189 YORKSHIRE DALES VILLAGES by John Potter


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The Yorkshire Dales National Park, which straddles the Pennines in northern England, is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. An award-winning photographer uncovers the beauty and charm of each small town and village. He manages to capture all the unique pleasures of country life: fell racing, agricultural shows, unusual pubs and events centred around historic churches. Here, the villages nestle amidst typical Dales scenery of drystone walls and barns, or lie close to stark limestone escarpments. From Appletreewick to Yockenthwaite, you will be charmed. 96 large pages, outstanding colour plates and map.


£12.99 NOW £4.50 HANDICRAFTS


The excellence of a gift lies in its appropriateness rather than in its value.


- Charles Dudley Warner


71321 CALLIGRAPHER’S COMPANION: A Complete Reference with Over 100 Alphabets with a Skill-


Building Workbook by Mary Noble and Janet Mehigan


You will never again find such an extensive guide to calligraphy as this one. Starting with the absolute basics, such as buying tools and


materials, sitting in the right light and ruling lines, it leads you from testing the pen and making your very first marks (even if you are left-handed or you write ‘overarm’) to producing exquisite gilded illuminated letters, and we can assure you that they really are super. There are over 100 pages of ready-ruled practice sheets with different styles for you to try, and each letter has numbered, directional arrows to show you how it is formed. For practical reasons, the 224 very large format pages are ring bound inside a sturdy cover and the whole is illustrated in glowing colour. £16.95 NOW £7.50


71332 CHINESE BRUSH 2 by Walter Foster


Over 80 years ago Walter Foster, a well known artist, instructor and collector, began producing self-help art instruction books from his home in California. People who have never before picked up a paintbrush or drawing pencil have discovered their artistic talents through his easy-to-follow instruction books. This one specialises in Chinese


brush painting which has been in existence for more than 2000 years. Using sheets of silk, bamboo and other types of wood as painting surfaces, the Chinese created images that were not necessarily accurate, instead each stroke simply suggested the spirit and character of the subject. Examples here by Helen Tse include a sunflower and ladybird, mountains and clouds, a goldfish, a lotus and dragonfly, peach blossoms and fisherman and a pavilion landscape. Rebecca Yue presents a series of animals including the monkey, ox, tiger and dragon. Basic techniques and warming up get us started. Huge sized softback, 32pp all in colour. $8.95 NOW £3


71258 DRESSMAKER’S TECHNIQUE BIBLE: A Complete Guide to Fashion


Sewing by Lorna Knight A spiral-bound book always inspires confidence, and this supremely practical sewing manual is designed for frequent use. Starting with equipment, including sewing machines and sergers, the author goes on to selecting a pattern,


including comparing your actual size with the pattern size and adapting the pattern if necessary. A body-shape guide gives an idea of what sort of styles might suit your figure, and a section on different designs of skirt, trousers, jacket, shirts and lingerie completes the introductory section. Fabrics, darts, pinking, zips, bias binding, Hong Kong finish, gathering, interfacing, hemming are all covered under sewing methods. Instructions for sleeves and cuffs are followed by necklines and collars, giving really useful advice ranging from a tailored or Peter Pan or shirt collar to round neck facings and straps. Pockets, eyelets, buttonholes and fastenings are all featured, and a comprehensive section on linings gives valuable advice on an unpopular task. The final section covers embellishment ideas and includes machine embroidery, beadwork, appliqué, smocking and serging. The book concludes with a Fabric Guide and glossary. Each technique is fully illustrated with diagrams and frequently a photographed example. 256pp.


$29.99 NOW £6 71283 WATERCOLOUR


LANDSCAPE QUILTS by Cathy Geier


You will be using a stabiliser as a foundation for your fabric squares, gluing your squares to this foundation, folding along the grid lines, sewing ¼ inch from the fold and tearing away your foundation. When it is done, the quilt top will be totally accurate and effectively


stabilised for broderie perse appliqué or machine embroidery. You may use an old photograph or draw from memory capturing the beauty of a meadow, the peaks of mountains, the quiet peace of a forest park, standing under a rich red canopy of autumn leaves - all can be expressed in landscape quilts. The goal for the book is to help you go through different levels of difficulty and the projects are rated one to three. 14 projects with easy-to-follow instructions, 135 colour photos to help you quilt like a master painter. 128pp in large softback. £16.99 NOW £5


71273 PAINTING BORDERS


FOR YOUR HOME by Donna Dewberry Our homes are full of spaces that cry out for a hand-painted border - walls, beds, tables, chairs, cupboards and smaller items of furniture. Popular subjects for borders are flowers and leaves, or alternatively lettering expressing a favourite saying or line of poetry.


The book starts with paint and equipment, and even the most experienced decorators should read Dewberry’s knowledgeable advice on this. Water-soluble Folkart paints can be mixed with “floating medium” but the author cautions not to follow the instructions on the bottle which will give a muddy effect. Instead, she has her own detailed advice on mixing paints and the sort of


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